Student organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGO) on Thursday asked the federal and provincial governments to allocate more than five percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to education in the upcoming budget. Educationists recommended the government take emergency measures to cope with the falling standards of education.
Ghazali Education Trust President Syed Waqas said that every country gives attention to education on a priority basis, but unfortunately in Pakistan it was only limited to statements and paperwork. He said that education determines the rise and fall of a nation but illiteracy was more than 45 percent in the country. Even after 63 years, Pakistan is at the second number among illiterate countries and our education system is on ventilator.
NGO worker Amir said that a single education system should prevail in the state, whereas, there are almost half a dozen education systems running in the country. He said that if the government improves the standards of school education, the country could progress by leaps and bounds. Amir said that the government should not only increase the educational budget but also take measures to decrease leakages of funds allocated to the budget.
A university teacher said that a balanced budget was what it was needed presently and the government should not overspend on higher education but give equal importance to primary education as well. He said that authorities should now focus on school education, as there was a lot of difference between students of elite schools and government school students. The government should announce free education until graduation and the educational budget should be increased, Insaaf Students Federation President Farrukh Habib said.
He said that the ISF will launch a nationwide campaign if the government fails to allocate more funds to education in the upcoming budget.
